Automatic humidifier



l Jan. 19, 1937.

H. W. PATTERSON AUTOMATIC HUMIDIFIER' Filed April l, 1936 Mum/ArATTORNEYS UNITED I sTATi-:s Pzi'rieziv'rA OFFICE f' This Vinventionrelates to humidifying apparatus, and, more particularly, to an improvedhumidifying device which is automatic in operation.

An object`of this invention is to provide an improved humidifying devicehaving .a `foraminous absorbent screen through which air may be forcedand which is movable tol an operative vposition bythe ilow of air.

Another object of this invention is to provide improved humidifyingapparatus having a foraminous absorbent screen which is movable tor anoperative position by the" flow of air and which has a portion movableinto cooperation Iwith a liquid supply by such movement of the screen.

-A further object of this invention is to provide improved humidifyingapparatus, of the type referred to,l wherein a chamber having floatcontrolled valve means furnishes a substantially constant levelliquid`supply for the foraminous screen.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improvedhumidifying device, of the type mentioned, wherein an electricallyoperated fan.

forces air against and through the foraminous screen and wherein ahumidostatautomatically causes starting and stopping of said fan.

It is also an object of this invention to provide an improvedhumidifying device having an air passage with liquid supplyandcollecting containers adjacent the top and bottom thereof and wherein aforaminous absorbent screen through which air is adapted to be forced ismounted. toV

swing in the passagev from one transverse position to another such thatwhen in one of its transverse positions it receives liquid from onecontainer and when in the other of its transverse positions it receivesliquid from the other container.

VOther objects and advantages ofthe inventionv will be apparent from thefollowing description when taken in conjunction with the accompanyingsheet of drawings, wherein Fig. 1 'is a front elevation of a humidifyingdevice embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a partial-vertical sectional viewshowing the screen hingestructure vonV a larger scale. Fig. 4 is a similarpartial verticalsectional view showing the float operated screen latch on a largerscale, and yf Figs. 5 and 6 are side elevational views of my improvedhumidifying device showing air directi ing hoods mounted thereon.

. ratus.

may be embodied in various other devices e e 2.068,431 q AUTOMATICiiuivnnninm f Herman W. Patterson, Cleveland Heights, Ohio ApplicationApril 1, 1936,'seria1 No. 72,154

isoiaim's. (oi. zei-106) j detailed reference will presently vbemade, Ihave shown what I now regard to be a preferred form of my improvedautomatic humidifying appa- However, before proceeding with Isuch moredetailed description it should be understood that the invention is notto be regarded as limited to the particular apparatus herein disclosedAbut and apparatus. i l

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 ofthe drawing, my

improved humidifying apparatus includes a casing or housing l0 of sheetmetal or other suitable construction and having an air passage II thereiin. Portions of the casing may be arranged to form vertical and-inclinedwalls l2 and I3 adjacent one end of the passage II. 'I'hese walls have pdischarge openings I4 and I5 therethrough and are spaced apart toprovidetherebetween a chamber I6 with which these discharge openingscommunicate. The opposite end of Athe passage Il` maybe left opento-provide an air intake.

Air may be caused to flow into thepassage II and throughthe openings I4and I5 by any suitable forcing means, lbut I nd that an, electric fan I8is satisfactory for this purpose and may be conveniently mountedldirectly in the passage II of the casing I0. The electric fan I8. maybe mountedr in the passage Il'by means of suitable brackets I9 connectedwith the `vertical wall'l`2 f so as tolocate the impeller4 of the fanadjacent the opening I4.

The casing I0 may be constructed to provide a liquid containing chamberor tank 20imxnediately above the passage II and to` also provide aliquid collecting 'container o r pan 2 Il immediately below the passage`Il. The tank 20 is preferably constructed with an opening 22 through thefront wall 23 thereof. AThe collecting container 2| may be constructedto extend laterally beneath the bottom wall 24 of the passage II- andacross the bottom of the chamber I 6. The casing I0 may also be providedwith `a liquid supply reservoir 26 at an elevation above the tank 20.'Ihis reservoir may be formed in the upper part of the casing itself andmay-be provided with a discharge pipe 21 so that liquid may be suppliedby gravity from the reservoir to thetank 20. The level of liquid in thetank 20 may be controlled and automatically maintained at asubstantially constant level. Any suitable means may be employed forthis purpose, such as a valve 28 which is operated by movement of afloat 29.

For supplying the liquid to the air delivered by the electric fan I8, I`provide an absorbent foraminous wick or screen 30 which, in accordance'I'his screen is mounted for swinging movement and extends downwardlyinto the chamber I6 in transverse relation to the discharge openings I4and I5. The screen may be of any suitable form of construction and may,for example, comprise a suitable marginal frame 3| upon which aforaminous absorbent web 32 is stretched or otherwise mounted. The framemay be of wire bent to the desired shape or outline, or may be of anyother suitable construction. The web 32 may be a woven fabric or anyother suitable material of sheet or web form which will serve as a wickfor conducting liquid by capillary action.

The screen 30 may be mounted for the desired 4swinging movement byproviding the same with a transversely extending hook-like member 34which engages the upper edge of the front wall 23 of the supply tank 20.The transverse member 34 may be connected with the marginal frame of thescreen and, in addition to its function as a hinge member, may serve toreinforce and strengthen the screen. This hinge member may be providedat its ends with forwardly extending handles 35 which may beconveniently grasped for the purpose of lifting the screen when it is tobe moved into or out of its suspended position on the front wall of thesupply tank 20, such as might be done when one screen is to be replacedby a clean screen or one of different absorptive characteristics. l

As an important feature of my invention I coni struct the screen 30 withan angularly or rearwardly extending portion 36 which extends into oroverhangs the tank 20 when the screen is hingedly supported on the frontwall thereof, as

f portion 36.

shown in Fig. 2. This angularly extending portion 36 is adapted to dipinto the supply of liquid in the tank 20 so that the liquid will bepicked up by the screen and supplied to the air which is forced throughthe screen by the electric fan. The handles 35 may be weighted or may beconstructed to contain a sufdcient body of metal to counterbalance theangularly extending screen This causes the downwardly hanging part ofthe screen to assume a rest position close to the vertical wall I2.

In the operation of my improved humidifying apparatus the starting ofthe electric fan |8 causes air to be delivered against the screen 38which, in its rest position, hangs down immediately in front of thedischarge opening I4 as shown in full lines in Fig. 2. The force of theair against the screen causes the same to swing to its dotted lineposition across the opening I5 of the inclined wall I3. The airdelivered by the fan is forced into the chamber I6 and then out throughthe openings of the foraminous screen. Movement of the screen to itsdotted line position across the opening I5 causes the angularlyextending portion 36 to dipinto the liquid of the tank 20. As long asthe electric fan I8 continues in operation the screen will be held inits position across the opening I5, with the portion 36 extending intothe liquid of the tank 2|). While the screen remains in this positionliquid will be picked up from the tank 28 and will travel downwardlythrough the screen to be transferred to tion 36 out of vthe liquid ofthe tank 20 and discontinuing the supply of liquid to the screen.

starting and stopping of the electric fan I8 with my invention, isarranged to have air forced' i therethrough by the operation of theelectric fan. i

moist the humidostat again acts to automatically I stop the electricfan.

y In the use of my improved humidifying appal ratus it may be found thatliquid travels down the screen 30 from the tank 2|!4 at a rate fasterthan it is picked up by the air being forced through the screen. Theexcess liquid flows or drips from the screen and collectsin thecontainer 2|. The collected liquid may be drained or otherwise removedfrom the container 2 I, but I prefer to provide means whereby the supplyof liquid to the screen from the tank 2|) may be interrupted for aperiodof time while liquidis supplied to the screen from the collectingtank. For this purpose I provide a' latch device 42 which cooperateswith the screen to temporarily hold the same in its transverse positionadjacent the discharge opening I4. This latch device may comprise an arm43 pivotally mounted upon a bracket 44 and carrying a roller 45 forengagement with the lower portion of the screen. The arm 43 is adaptedto be lifted by a float 46 which is connected with the arm.

As the level of liquid collected in the container 2| rises, the `float46 lifts the arm 43. When the liquid level reaches a predeterminedheight the roller 45 acts as a stop which engages the lower portion ofthe screen and prevents the latter from being swung to its transverseposition adjacent the opening I5. If the electric fan is started whilethe device 42 is in its elevated position, the screen will remainadjacent the opening I4 and liquid will be supplied to the screen fromthe container 2|. When the level of the liquid in the container 2|falls, the device 42 will be lowered and the screen will be movedoutwardly to its position adjacent the opening I5 and will then receiveliquid from the tank 28. Whenever the fan I8 vis stopped the screen willreturn to its rest position and when the fan is restarted, it willeither be held adjacent the opening I4 or will move to its positionadjacent the opening I5, depending upon whether there is suicient liquidin the container 2| to lift the latch device 42.

The air intake passage II maybe provided with a filter 48 throughwhich'the air passes and which removes particles of dust or like mattertherefrom. This filter may be a screen formed of wire or cloth fabric ora body of matted wool fibres, or a combination of such materials.

In Figs. 5 and 6'of the drawing I have shown air directing hoods whichmay be used with my improved humidifying apparatus. In Fig. 5 I haveshown a hood 58 mounted on the discharge side of the humidifying device5| to direct the moistened air in a desired direction, for example,v'into the air intake of a hot-air furnace. The air Aintake opening ofthe device may have a filtering screen 48a. thereon. In Fig. 6 I haveshown hoods 52 and 53 mounted respectively on the intake and dischargesides of a humiditying device 54. The hood 52 may beextended through theopening of a window or wall 55 to draw. in air from a different room orfrom the outside of the. building. The hood 53 is constructed to directthe discharge of moistened air upwardly so that it willnot cause harmfuleffectsfby ybeing blown directly on workmen or apparatus.7 g f In thearrangement of Fig. 6 the intake hood 52 may have an opening 56 whichconnects the passage of the hood with the space or room to the inside ofthe wall 55. AA butterfly valve 51 maybe mounted to swing in the passageof the hood52 so that in one position it closes 4or partially closes theopening 55 and in its other position it closes or partially closes thepassage of the hood. A suitable electric actuating device 58 maybeoperatively connected with the pivot shaft of the valve 51 to swing thesame. The device 58 maybe automatically controlled by a thermostat 59 sothat when the room temperature is high the valve 51 will be moved to aposition closing the opening 56 and cold air will then be taken fromoutside the wall 55, and whenfthe room temperature is lowthe valve willclose the opening of 4the hood. 52 'and air will then be taken from theinside of the wall through the opening 56.. The intake. hood 52 mayalsov be fitted with .a filter screen 481).` l f From the foregoingdescription and the accompanying drawing it will now be readilyunderstood that I. have provided improved'automatic humidifyingapparatus in which themovement of a foraminous absorbent screen toadesired operative position also causes automatic' starting of the.supply of liquid'to thescreen. It

will also be` understood that the'movement ofvl thescreen toits desiredoperative position is `caused by the ilow. of air such that byautomatically controlling the operation of a fan or air supply and thelevel of liquid in a liquid supply tank, the operation of my improvedhumidifying apparatus is rendered entirely automatic.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination, a housing having means providing an air passage, aforaminous screen, means mounting said screen for movement to a positionextending across said passage such rthat the air owing in the passagemust pass therethrough, means for forcing air through said passage andscreen, and means for supplying liquid to the screen, the last mentionedmeans being automatically rendered effective by such movement of thescreen.

2. In combination, a housing having means providing an air passage, aforaminous screen, means mounting said screen for movement to a positionextending across said passage such that air owing in the passage mustpass through the screen-means for forcing air through said passage andscreen, and a liquid containingy chamber adjacent saidpassage, saidscreen having a portion adapted to dip into the liquid of the chamberupon movement thereof to its position across the passage.

3. In combination, a casing having a chamber provided with a dischargeopening, means for blowing air into said chamber, a foraminous screen,.means mounting said screen to be swungby the air ow to a positionextending across said discharge opening, and a liquid supply, saidscreen having a portion thereof vmovable into cooperation with saidliquid supply by swinging of the screen.

4. In combination, a casing having a cham.- ber provided with adischarge opening, means for vblowing air into said chamber, aforaminous screen normally movable to a rest position when i saidblowing means is inoperative but adapted to bev moved by the air to asecond position extending across` said dischargeopening, and a tankcontaining asupply of liquid, said screen adjacent said passage,saidsheethaving a portion engageable with the liquid of one containerv cwhen the sheet is in one of its positions and another portion engageablewith liquid in the other container Iwhen the sheet is in its otherposition. n

6. In a humidifier, -a casing having an air passage, a fan operable forforcing air through said passage, an absorbent sheet adapted to have airforced therethrough by said fan, said sheet extending transversely ofsaid passage and being mounted to swing from one transverse position toanother, and liquid supply and collecting containers adjacent the topand bottom of said pass age, said sheet having a portion adapted toengage the liquid in said supply container when the'sheet is in oneposition 'and another portion adapted to engage liquid inthe collectingcon'- tainer when the sheet is in its other position.

'7. In a humidifying' device, a casing having a i -discharge opening, afan' operable to'force air toward said opening, a liquid containingtank, a

foraminous absorbent screen adapted to be swung by the fan-discharge toa position extending'across saidv opening' andhaving `aportionmovabltinto the liquid of said tank upon swinging of the screento said position, and means automatically maintaining a desired liquidlevel in said tank.

8. In a humidifying device, acasing having a discharge opening, a fanoperable to force air toward said opening, a liquid containing tank, aforaminous absorbent screen adapted to be swung by the fan discharge toa position extending across said opening and having a portion movableinto the liquid of said tank upon swinging of the screen to saidposition, and means including a float operated valve for automaticallymaintaining a desired liquid level in said tank.

9. In a humidifying device, a casing having a discharge opening, a fanoperable to force air toward said opening, a liquid containing tank, a

foraminous absorbent screen adapted to be swung by the fan discharge toa position extending across said opening and having a portion movableinto the liquid of said tank upon swinging of the screen to saidposition, and a humidostat for automatically starting and stopping saidfan.

10. In a humidifying device, a casing having a discharge opening, a fanoperable to force air toward said opening, a liquid containing tank, aforaminous absorbent screen adapted to be swung by thc fan discharge toa position extending across said opening and having a portion movableinto the liquid ofk said tank upon swinging ofthe screen to saidposition, means automatically maintaining a substantially constant-liquid level in said tank, and means operable frrautomatically startingand stoppingsaid fan.

11. In a humidifyingl device, a casing having tainer, and a humidostatautomatically controlf ling the operation of said fan.

12. In a device of .the character described the combination of a casinghaving a discharge passage, a fan operable to force air through saidpassage, a tank above said passage, and an absorbent foraminous sheethinged adjacent an edge of said tank to extend down into said passage infront of said ian and having an angular-- ly disposed portionoverhanging said edge of the tank.

13. In a device of the character described the combination of a casinghaving an inclined wall provided with a discharge opening, a fanoperable to force air toward said opening, a liquid containing tank, andan absorbent foraminous sheet hinged adjacent an edge of said tank one`portion extending down in front of the fan and another portionoverhanging the tank, .said sheet being adapted to be swung by the fandischarge to simultaneously move said one portion into position acrossthe inclined discharge open ing and said overhanging portion into theliquid of said tank.

14. In a device of-the character described lthe combination of a casinghaving spaced vertical and inclined walls provided with openingscommunicating with a chamber between the walls, a fan operable -to forceair into said chamber through the opening of the vertical wall, a liquidcontaining tank adjacent the top of said chamber, and an absorbentforaminous screen hinged adjacent the top of said chamber with oneportion extending down into .the chamber and another portionoverhang-ing the tankysaid screen being adapted to be swung by the fandischarge to shift the downwardly extending portion from a positionextending across the opening of the vertical wall to a positionextending across the opening of the inclined Wall and to simultaneouslymove said overl'iang'ng Portion into the liquid-of the tank.

15. In a device of the character described the combination of a casinghaving spaced vertical yand inclined walls provided with openings com-'municating with a chamber between the walls,

v.a fan operable to force air into said chamber through the opening ofthe vertical wall, a liquid :containing tank adjacent the top of saidchaman absorbent foramnous screen hinged adjacent the .top of saidchamber with one portion extending' down into the chamber" and anotherportion `ove'rhanging the tank, said screen being adapted to rbe swungby the Ian discharge to shift the `dawnwardly extending portion from a.position extending across the opening of the vertical wall to a positionextending across the opening of the inclined wall and to` simultaneouslyAmove said overhanging portion into the liquid yof the tank, a liquidcollecting container adjacent the bottom of said chamber, and meansoperable to prevent swinging of the screen to `ward said inclined wallwhen the liquid in the collecting jcontainer exceeds a ,predeterminedlevel. 's

HERMAN W. PATTERSON.

